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Planetary protection for a Mars sample return (edit)

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A Mars Sample Return (MSR) to the Earth surface has been considered many times since the first proposal in 1979,<ref name=portree>DAVID S. F. PORTREE [http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/07/the-antaeus-orbiting-quarantine-facility-1978/ Antaeus Orbiting Quarantine Facility (1978) 7th July, 2012]</ref> due to the high science value expected for carefully selected samples from Mars examined with the full range of facilities we have available on Earth.
 
NASA's Mars 2020 rover will cache samples which they hope to return direct to Earth in the 2020s, possibly as soon as 2026.
NASA have no immediate plans for a MSR, but have considered proposals to return a Mars sample direct to Earth, possibly in the 2030s, in its [[Mars Next Generation]] program.<ref>Dwayne Brown, Sarah DeWitt [http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/dec/HQ_12-420_Mars_2020.html NASA Announces Robust Multi-Year Mars Program; New Rover to Close Out Decade of New Missions] (note, proposed mission only, was postponed)</ref><ref name="Space-20120927">{{cite web |last=Wall |first=Mike |title=Bringing Pieces of Mars to Earth: How NASA Will Do It (note, proposed mission only) |url=http://www.space.com/17780-nasa-mars-sample-return-options.html |date=September 27, 2012 |publisher=[[Space.com]] |accessdate=September 28, 2012 }}</ref> China also has considered a plan to return a sample by 2030.<ref name="China">{{cite web |author=Staff Writers|title=China to collect samples from Mars by 2030 |url=http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/China_to_collect_samples_from_Mars_by_2030_Xinhua_999.html |date=September 27, 2012 |publisher=Mars Daily via Xinhua |date= Oct 10, 2012 }}</ref>▼
 
▲NASAThere have nobeen immediatemany previous plans forby a MSR, but have considered proposals to return a Mars sample direct to Earth, possiblyNASA in the 2030s, in its [[Mars Next Generation]] program.<ref>Dwayne Brown, Sarah DeWitt [http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/dec/HQ_12-420_Mars_2020.html NASA Announces Robust Multi-Year Mars Program; New Rover to Close Out Decade of New Missions] (note, proposed mission only, was postponed)</ref><ref name="Space-20120927">{{cite web |last=Wall |first=Mike |title=Bringing Pieces of Mars to Earth: How NASA Will Do It (note, proposed mission only) |url=http://www.space.com/17780-nasa-mars-sample-return-options.html |date=September 27, 2012 |publisher=[[Space.com]] |accessdate=September 28, 2012 }}</ref> China also has considered a plan to return a sample by 2030.<ref name="China">{{cite web |author=Staff Writers|title=China to collect samples from Mars by 2030 |url=http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/China_to_collect_samples_from_Mars_by_2030_Xinhua_999.html |date=September 27, 2012 |publisher=Mars Daily via Xinhua |date= Oct 10, 2012 }}</ref>
 
Samples returned under these proposals would be examined for biosignatures on Mars first, but the proposals suggested so far for a MSR to Earth do not include any plans for detailed examination on the Mars surface, such as with Scanning Electron Microscopes, DNA sequencers, or labelled culture experiments. Also the plans proposed so far do not include tests for biohazard potential in Earth-like environments prior to return to Earth. All these tests would instead be carried out on Earth after the sample return mission.<ref name=decadal>
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